Anglin v. State, 34747
| Decision Date | 31 May 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 34747,34747 |
| Citation | 243 Ga. 720,256 S.E.2d 455 |
| Parties | ANGLIN v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Peter Zach Geer, Albany, for appellant.
Vickers Neugent, Dist. Atty., Jack Knight, Nashville, Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Nicholas G. Dumich, Staff Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
John Thomas Anglin, Sr., was convicted by a jury on circumstantial evidence for the murders of Benjie Tygart and Johnny Luke on May 22, 1977, in Atkinson County. 1 He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals.
He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict. He assigns error on the admission of evidence of certain acts and declarations of the alleged co-conspirator, John Thomas Anglin, Jr., because a prima facie case of conspiracy was never established. He contends also the court's charge on conspiracy did not conform to the statute. Code Ann. § 38-306. We affirm.
1. The evidence was sufficient to support the verdict. The state produced some 60 witnesses to show that Anglin, Sr., and his son, Anglin, Jr., conspired to obtain large amounts of insurance, 2 by various means, insuring the life of the younger Anglin; that the purpose of the scheme was to pay off a loan against the Anglin farm and other debts; that a young man closely resembling Anglin, Jr., Benjamin Harry Tygart, was lured to the barn-residence occupied by Anglin, Jr., and shot to death; that the bar-residence was padlocked and set on fire with gasoline in order to burn the body beyond recognition and create the belief that Anglin, Jr., had died in the blaze. The state produced evidence also to show that Johnny Luke, who was present, was murdered also and his body dumped into a nearby swamp. In furtherance of the scheme, the evidence showed Anglin, Jr., fled the state in a green Plymouth Fury automobile, going first to Florida and thence to Katy, Texas, where he was later apprehended; following the murders and disappearance of Anglin, Jr., his father was authorized under Anglin, Jr.'s will to take custody of his body, cremate it and collect the life insurance proceeds, cash in savings accounts and other property assets amounting to $318,000.
The evidence supporting Anglin, Sr.'s part in a conspiracy showed Anglin, Jr., executed a will in February, 1977, naming Anglin, Sr., as executor and primary beneficiary of his estate. Two witnesses testified when Anglin, Jr., purchased the green Plymouth Fury in Waycross, he was accompanied by a man described as Anglin, Sr., standing "5'6 tall, pretty old, grey haired." The automobile was secretly registered in Berrien County and none of Anglin, Jr.'s closest friends were told about its existence. These witnesses testified they could not swear the man in the courtroom was the man who accompanied Anglin, Jr., but one of them stated he "fits the description I remember." Other evidence showed Anglin, Sr., had some prior knowledge of the contents of the will though he testified he had never read it; that Anglin, Sr., told the county coroner at the time of the fire, before there was positive identification of the torso found in the fire, that there was a will, that Anglin, Jr., wanted to be cremated and that he told the coroner he wanted the body carried to Jacksonville and cremated, though Anglin, Sr., denied saying this. The coroner also testified, and Anglin, Sr., admitted on cross-examination, that he told the coroner ". . . be sure and fill out the death certificate with black ink as it would make good copies." He also stated ". . . wanted some you could collect on." The state also produced evidence that Anglin, Sr., was present when Anglin, Jr., applied for a $150,000 term life insurance policy, that the application was explained to him, and that he was also present later when the agent delivered the policy. A state witness testified that he saw Anglin, Jr., making a telephone call from a highway telephone booth about 9:30 p. m. on May 22, 1977, and that he was accompanied by Benjie Tygart, though he could not see Johnny Luke. Anglin, Sr., confirmed this call was received at 9:30 p. m., that Anglin, Jr., asked him to bring the new Chrysler Cordoba over to the barn and that he did so promptly, did not see anybody else with Anglin, Jr., and that Anglin, Jr., drove him straight back to his residence, arriving around 10 p. m. The state's evidence showed Anglin, Jr., after apprehension in Texas, stated he shot Tygart and Luke between 9:30 and 10 p. m., that the distances from the barn-residence to...
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Tookes v. State, 61495
...such evidence was admitted. We conclude this was not error because a conspiracy is shown by the evidence as a whole. Anglin v. State, 243 Ga. 720(2), 256 S.E.2d 455 (1979). We therefore conclude from an examination of the record that the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact ......
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Anglin v. State
...separately, and were convicted and given life sentences for both offenses. The father's conviction was affirmed in Anglin v. State, 243 Ga. 720, 256 S.E.2d 455 (1979). This is the son's Evidence was presented in the junior Anglin's case authorizing the jury to find that he and his father co......
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